Hi Folks!

Hi folks,

I've been reading lsb for a while now and like so many others, I really enjoy the varied views and advice on offer. There is so much to learn when making the move to country living! Anyway, I thought it was time to say hi and to share a little about our endeavors and future plans (only plans at this stage) with you all.

My husband and I have been searching for the right property (in Northland) on which to build our own house for a number of years. Finally, last year we found what seems to us to be the perfect place - at the perfect price. We are of the mind-set that we will avoid a mortgage at all costs, so price for us was very important. Also, on the list of 'must have' were: steady water supply, good location for work, suitable climate for varied cultivation, north facing, forested with open areas of pasture.

What we found was 13 acres of mature and regenerating (un-covenanted) native forest near Kaeo. The land is directly across from the Puketi Forest and has some small areas of open grass suitable for building, gardening and minimal livestock (a few dairy goats or cow and a flock of hens). There is a spring originating in the native forest across the road that flows down through the forest on our place, with several other small streams running. It seems we are set for water (the neighbours also take water from this spring and legally we have rights to tap it too). The location is good as it is remote, but not too remote, being only 20 mins from Kerikeri township.

We are very interested in permaculture and self-sufficiency and hope to eventually be off-the-grid in a sense - doing as much for ourselves (and our community) as we can. Our plans include designing and growing a food forest, cultivating extensive perennial and annual vegetable gardens and incorporating what animals we can into the system - my thoughts are with a few dairy goats, perhaps a dairy cow, ducks and hens for eggs and pest control.

The house we intend to build will be of cob and timber, hand-built by ourselves and anyone with an interest in helping or learning the techniques of cob building.

As for the visible challenges - breaking down the clay soils in to something workable and fertile will take time and effort, yet is doable. Dealing with pests such as possums and rats is likely to be a challenge, too. And gorse...not much, but enough that it needs to be dealt with. No doubt I'll be in here searching for advice on such things.

Anyway - that's the next 5-10 years of our lives right there! [8D]

Asha

ps: some of our interests include:

permaculture, food forests, hugelkulture, alternative energy, solar, wind, small scale hydro, biofuel, rocket stoves, natural building, conservation, organic farming, swales, dam building, vegetarian cooking :eek:, community projects, bread making... sharing with family, friends and neighbours and so on and so on...

Welcome to LSBland. If you still have plentiful running water now, it's likely to flow under any conditions! Puketi is lovely.

Hi Ruth,

Thanks for the welcome. Hopefully it's an eternal spring!

I'm in!

some gass for me ass and fule for me mule and i'd be keeen as.

(PS, if you're not dead set on that block, check out: barfoot.co.nz/491981 )

i'm looking toward a similar hippy-commune type living arrangement. unfortunately they never seem to prosper as they should...

Hi and welcome Ashajade, from another newbie here, on our block since Dec 15th. Exciting isn't it. Life Sentence its called, a loving life sentence. And Im loving it.

Hi Akzel, We did buy the property, thanks for the link anyway (that's another stunning block). Also, we don't intend on living communally, I think that would be very tough! It would be great to have guests, friends, family etc. come to stay - but I am sure we'll enjoy the privacy once they're gone.

We are big on community though and hope we can meet some like-minded folks in the area. It's always good to have people to share produce and good times with and who can help out when you need to raise a house or clear land etc.

Hi Deanna, thanks for the welcome. It is exciting, even though we're not quite there yet. We really hope to be on the land later this year.

Hi Asha and welcome,sounds like you will have plenty to do getting set up,having year round water is fantastic.

Thanks for the welcome Richard.